You are here

Jack's Story

I suffered with Hypothyroidism since the start of my teens. Classic signs and symptoms so you'd think an easy diagnosis. Nope, TSH always in the reference range so Hypothyroidism always rejected once the blood tests came back. Over the years I was given a range of 'I don't really know so I'll call it this' diseases. ME, post viral fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression. Lots of false labels given by numerous doctors who had all been trained to reject Hypothyroidism if a TSH was in the reference range.

It wasn't until my late 20's that I came across a doctor who was brave enough to put the clinical signs and symptoms first and give me a trial of T4. That was the turning point in my life. The start of my journey back to health.

Over the years I was given a range of 'I don't really know so I'll call it this' diseases.

It was soon obvious that I had a type of thyroid hormone resistance. The doctor who started me on T4 didn't really know much about this type of Hypothyroidism or how to use T3 to treat it so I had to do my own research. This was the 90's and information was harder to come by. Since the late 90's I've been very healthy and I've built a great family life and career.

I take my T3 five times a day and this is easy to do once you are in the routine. Getting started with T3 is difficult though. To work out the right dosages and timings you have to approach it as a scientific experiment. Only by recording what doses you take when and your temperatures, heart rate and blood pressure through the day together with assessing a range of other signs and symptoms (mood, digestive system, concentration, skin etc) can you work it all out. It really isn't easy to do but the reward is getting your life back. You can never replace those lost years but if you can get your T3 dosing right then you can be fit, healthy, energetic and really enjoy life again.